Abuse

Obscure-ish down-south grind/ sludge/ hardcore/ death circa 1997. Equal parts Starkweather, Soilent Green, and Acid Bath. Definitely worth a spin if you're unfamiliar.

Aeon

Extremely dark and menacing DM from Sweden that manages to come across super solid and riffy without sacrificing anything in the way of speed and intensity... I've been a massive Aeon fan since the early 00's so this record wound up being kind of the sleeper hit of 2021 for me.

If you like mid-era Vader, Morbid Angel, Hate Eternal, Pessimist, and that absolutely savage Golgothan disc that came out a couple months ago you'll probably really dig this.

Dark Worship

Ok, I'm "officially" better... So fuck it, I'm back.

Let's start things off weird with six tracks of heavy industrial from members of Axioma (who are one of my favorite bands going right now), Exorcisme. and Ancient VVisdom.

If you can imagine a cross between Skinny Puppy, Youth Code, Hide, and Corrections House with an added splash of blackened evil you've got a pretty good idea of what's happening here... It's definitely a pretty strange combo, but it's also pretty fucking rad.

Side note: Is it just me or does the weird little vocal melody on "Destroy Forever" (you'll know the one I'm talking about) make anyone else feel like these guys are about to bust into the heaviest cover of Prince's "7" the world has ever heard?

The New Flesh

Angry, ugly, hardcore/ noise rock skuzz from Baltimore circa 2007... Sorta occupies a middle point between Black Flag, Deadguy, The Jesus Lizard, Unsane, and early Today is the Day.

Gruel

Monolithically heavy UK prog/ sludge. Equal parts Melvins, Iron Monkey, and Buzzov*en with some definite nods in the direction of The Jesus Lizard, Unsane, King Crimson, and, if I can make what is sure to be the most bafflingly obscure reference you've probably ever heard: Jumbo's Killcrane.

Killer vocals on this album too, for whatever that's worth to anyone.

Urdog

Droning tribal psych rock from Providence RI... I became a huge fan of this band when I saw them by accident back in the early 00's but I still have an absolute bastard of a time describing their music. Kind of like a witchy version of This Heat maybe? Or a spaced out Neptune? Or like Rakta but earlier and with different instrumentation? Something like that? 

I dunno... Suffice it to say they're pretty great to space out to.

Hatchet Face

Rip-roaring grindy hardcore with some of the hoarsest vocals I've ever fucking heard. Definitely has a bit of an Infest/ Crossed Out vibe which I guess means kids these days would probably call this stuff powerviolence? I dunno man, I'm fucking old and back in my day we just called it hardcore.

At any rate, getting to see these guys live a bunch of times back when I was a teenager was one of the cooler parts of growing up in middle-of-nowhere MA.

Overdose

Since I just mentioned them in that Clockwork post here's some Overdose to hopefully help you limp your tired ass across that Friday-afternoon finish line and home to whatever couch/ TV/ internet configuration you plan to cancel plans from this weekend... I have been singing the praises of this band in general, and this album in particular for the past 25 years, but no one ever seems to give a fuck.

Oh well, your loss.

Seriously though, this is an absolutely killer and sorely fucking underrated slab of mid 90's tribal thrash with an edge of punch-press industrial groove and a whole lot of energy and style.

Equal parts Coroner, Clockwork, and later era Cyclone Temple. Hard to fucking argue with that. And yeah, I guess you could even sorta compare this to Sepultura "Roots"... Well, except for the fact that "Progress of Decadence" came out almost three full years earlier.

Clockwork

The relentless chunking groove of late era Coroner reconfigured into a clockwork precise (see what I did there?) industrial-thrash killing machine. If you dig Prong, Nailbomb, Overdose, Monster Voodoo Machine, and the later Coroner albums you'll probably fucking love this.